Council amends zoning decree
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

Zoning and residential plats occupied much of the Lampasas City Council's time during its Monday night meeting.

The council unanimously OK'd a change in the city zoning ordinance to allow heavy equipment rental in commercial zones with a specificuse permit. The change allows heavy equipment rental only on a case-by-case basis subject to City Council approval.

After approving the change, the council accepted Wilson Neely's request for a specific-use permit at 1102 S. Broad St., near the high school tennis courts. Lampasas Rental & Hardware owner Jim Finley plans to relocate his business from Key Avenue to Neely's property on Broad Street, bounded on the north by a high school parking lot and on the south by the levee alongside Hancock Park Golf Course.

The council attached four conditions to the permit. The business owner must set back the entrance to the equipment yard to allow trucks and trailers to stop at the gate without blocking traffic on Tenth Street. No entrance is allowed from Ridge Street.

Mayor Pro Tem John Cole's motion, which passed 6-0, also re- quires a six-foot chain-link fence on the east, west and north sides of the property. The specific-use permit also states "the owner will maintain the entrance in good order at all times."

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended a threesided privacy fence, but council members said a chain-link fence could provide security without blocking the view of the equipment rentals from the highway.

"I think with a chain-link fence the safety issues will be resolved," Mayor Judy Hetherly said. "The people on the outside will be able to see in, and the people on the inside will be able to see out."

In another 6-0 vote, the council agreed to rezone 2.401 acres at 1204 Central Texas Expressway to allow proposed office development instead of apartments. Retail and single-family residential zones surround the property to the north, with additional residential zones on the south and east.

Utilities are available at the property, which neighbors the Holiday Inn Express and Fresenius Medical Care dialysis center.

The City Council also approved a replat of three lots at 1605 and 1609 East Avenue I.

Owner Brenda Britton requested the replat on the property, located in a subdivision and single-family zoning district, so she can form the three lots into two and sell two houses on the property.

Other unanimous votes authorized final plats for Cummings One -- a 1.65-acre subdivision in the 900 block of Old Georgetown Road -- and for the 11.34-acre Eagle Valley Estates, situated between West Sixth Street and the unopened portion of West Seventh Street.

No driveways will be allowed on the Seventh Street right of way until the road is developed and improvements are made in accordance with city specifications.

In another matter, the council voted 6-0 to grant Rollins Brook Community Hospital a variance from the city's sign ordinance. The variance will allow Rollins Brook to install a 10-foot-high monument sign -- four feet taller than the maximum height allowed in the ordinance -- at the edge of the property line, rather than set back five feet from Key Avenue.

The council granted the variance because Rollins Brook officials cited patients' and emergency vehicle drivers' difficulty in spotting the hospital as they travel down Key Avenue.

In other business, City Manager Michael Stoldt told the council Lampasas earned the secondhighest score of seven applicants for a Texas Capital Fund grant. The city requested a $1 million grant to extend water and sewer service to the industrial park on U.S. Highway 183 south of town. Oil States Industries may relocate to the business park.

"This does not mean we're funded, although it is one huge step toward getting funded," Stoldt said.

The Texas Capital Fund has $1,996,107 available for grants, but staff still have to review the eligibility and credit worthiness of the top three applicants.

Oil States knows Lampasas' grant application scored well, Stoldt said, and the company may announce in the next two or three weeks whether it has selected Lampasas over a potential site in Oklahoma.

"That can only be a good, extra little kick in the right direction at the right moment," the city manager said of Lampasas' probable grant receipt.

Oil States must choose Lampasas as a site for expansion in order for the city to receive a Texas Capital Fund grant.

Stoldt also noted bidding for golf course bridge repairs will begin Oct. 23 at 10 a.m. The City Council may schedule a special meeting to consider those bids.